Conventionally, pneumatic tires configured from rubber, organic fiber materials, steel members, and the like, have been employed in vehicles such as cars.
Recently, the use of resin materials, in particular thermoplastic resins, thermoplastic elastomers, and the like, as tire materials is being investigated from the perspectives of weight reduction, ease of molding, and ease of recycling.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-104008, and JP-A No. H03-143701 describe a pneumatic tire formed using a thermoplastic polymer material.